U.S. v. Klacker, 86-8406

• Decision Date: 26 February 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-8406,86-8406
• Citation: 811 F.2d 555
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lawrence Bryan KLACKER, Defendant-Appellant. Non-Argument Calendar.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 555

811 F.2d 555

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lawrence Bryan KLACKER, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 86-8406

Non-Argument Calendar.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

Feb. 26, 1987.

Paul Kish, Federal Defender Program, Inc., Atlanta, Ga., for defendant-appellant.

Stephen S. Cowen, U.S. Atty., Janis Caplain Gordon, Asst. U.S. Atty., Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before HILL, KRAVITCH and HATCHETT, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

Appellant was tried before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on charges of kidnapping, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 1201(a)(1) (1982), and using a firearm during the commission of a felony. 18 U.S.C. Sec. 924(c) (1982). The jury returned a verdict of guilty on both counts. Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping and a consecutive sentence of five years for the second count. Appellant's court appointed counsel gave timely notice of appeal and filed a brief in this court which conforms to the requirements established by Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967). The only arguable ground for appeal set forth in this brief is the district court's denial of a motion to change venue.

The circumstances related to appellant's conviction began with his escape from jail in New Orleans, Louisiana. As part of his efforts to elude recapture, he kidnapped a man outside a shopping center in Alabama. At gun point, appellant forced this individual to drive him to Atlanta, Georgia. A well-publicized manhunt ensued which lasted for several days as appellant repeatedly eluded state and federal law enforcement officers. Three months after this manhunt, appellant was tried in Atlanta. Of the 51 venirepersons, 18 had some recollection of the news reports. Only one juror who had seen these reports ultimately sat on the jury.

This court has recently held that prejudice may be presumed from pretrial publicity when such publicity is "sufficiently prejudicial and inflammatory and the prejudicial pretrial publicity saturated the community where the trials were held." Coleman v. Kemp, 778 F.2d 1487, 1490 (11th Cir.1985), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 2289, 90 L.Ed.2d 730 (1986). The news reports detailing appellant's flight from justice were largely factual reports, devoid of inflammatory material. Additionally, the coverage was not so extensive as to saturate the community. Just as appellant is unable to demonstrate presumed...